1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel and the driving method thereof, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel, one of flat panel display devices, having improved electrical connections and the driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, to display an image on a flat panel display device, a matrix driving method is utilized. In this method, a pair of electrodes are sequentially selected among a plurality of scan electrodes arranged in the same horizontal direction as the scanning direction of a video signal and a plurality of address electrodes arranged in the vertical direction, and on the cross point of the pair of the electrodes, a video signal of a pixel can be displayed. In addition, two types of steps are required to display images on a flat panel display device. One step is an addressing step to sequentially address each one of pixels of the display panel, and the other one is a sustaining discharge step to display a video signal for a certain period of time at the corresponding pixel. In the plasma display panel, the two types of steps are carried out by selecting a pair of horizontal and vertical electrodes, and by establishing a negative glow discharge within a discharge space filled with a gas between the two electrodes. In other words, after a pair of scan electrodes and an address electrode are selected according to the sync pulses of a video signal, and a pulse voltage is impressed at least one of the electrodes to establish a gas discharge at the selected pixel, a pulse voltage is impressed across the scan electrodes to achieve a sustaining discharge, and therefore the video signal is transformed to a light signal and is displayed at the selected pixel.
The structural types of the plasma display panels are classified into a facing discharge type and a surface discharge type according to arrangement configurations of discharge electrodes, the driving types of the plasma display panels are classified into an AC driving type and a DC type according to whether the polarity of the voltage impressed for sustaining discharges is varying with the passage of time or not.
FIG. 1a shows a basic structure of a general DC type facing discharge plasma display panel, and FIG. 1b shows a basic structure of a general AC type surface discharge plasma display panel. As shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b, the DC type facing discharge plasma display panel, and the AC type surface discharge plasma display panel are respectively provided with discharge spaces 5 and 15 between front glass substrates 1 and 11 and back glass substrates 7 and 17. In the DC type plasma display panel, since a scan electrode 2 and an address electrode 6 are directly exposed to the discharge space 5, the flow of electrons supplied by a cathode is the energy source sustaining a discharge. In the AC type plasma display panel, since the scan electrodes 12 are embedded in a dielectric layer 13, they are electrically isolated from the discharge space 15. In this case, the discharge is sustained by the well-known wall charge effect. In addition, the AC type plasma display panels are classified into a facing discharge type and a surface discharge type according to the disposition of electrodes establishing discharges.
In the facing discharge plasma display panel, a pixel is addressed by the address electrode 6 on the back substrate 7 and the scan electrode 2 on the front substrate 1 which are disposed to face each other and to be orthogonal to each other and are addressed according to sync pulses of the video signal, and the discharge occurs and is sustained in the discharge space between the electrodes 2 and 6. In the surface discharge plasma display panel, a pair of the scan electrodes 12 formed on the front substrate 11 to be parallel to each other and the address electrode 16 formed on the back substrate 17 to be orthogonal with respect to the electrodes 2 and 6 are provided. In this panel, an address discharge occurs-between the address electrode 16 and the scan electrodes 12, and then a sustaining discharge to display a video signal occurs between two scan electrodes 12, namely, an X electrodes 12a and an Y electrodes 12b. Further, each type may employ 3 electrode structure, 4 electrode structure and so on including a plurality of scan electrodes and/or address electrodes in order to easily establish the discharge.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic exploded perspective view of an AC type 3 electrode surface discharge plasma display panel which is commercially available. An address electrode 16 and a pair of scan electrodes 12 to be orthogonal with respect to the address electrode 16 are disposed at both sides of a corresponding point of a discharge space 15. Partition walls 18 have roles to define discharge spaces 15 and to prevent cross talks between neighbor pixels from occurring by blocking space charges created during a discharge period and ultraviolet rays. To make a plasma display panel capable of displaying color images as a color display device, fluorescent materials 19 which can be excited by ultraviolet rays radiated during a discharge period and respectively emit visible light rays of red, blue, and green colors are respectively coated on the inside surfaces of the discharge spaces sequentially and repeatedly.
Such a plasma display panel coated with the fluorescent materials has to exhibit gray scale to achieve a preferable performance of a color image display device, and a gray scale exhibition method in which a image frame is divided into a plurality of subfields and the panel is driven in a time-division manner is currently utilized. FIG. 3 shows a diagram to explain a gray scale exhibition method of a general AC type plasma display panel. As shown in FIG. 3, the gray scale exhibition method of the AC type plasma display panel employs a method in which a image frame is divided into 4 subfields operated in a time-division manner and 24=16 gray scale can be displayed. The operation period of each subfield consist of respective one of address periods A1 to A4 and respective one of sustaining discharge periods S1 to S4, the fact that the brightness perceived by human eyes is directly proportional to the relative duration of the sustaining discharge period is utilized to exhibit the gray scale. In other words, since the sustaining discharge periods S1 to S4 of a first subfield SF1 to a fourth subfield SF4 are in the ratio 1:2:4:8, combinational periods of each sustaining discharge period such as 0, 1 (1T), 2 (2T), 3 (1T+2T), 4 (4T), 5 (1T+4T), 6 (2T+4T), 7 (1T+2T+4T), 8 (8T), 9 (1T+8T), 10 (2T+8T), 11 (3T+8T), 12 (4T+8T), 13 (1T+4T+8T), 14 (2T+4T+8T), 15 (1T+2T+4T+8T) are possible and therefor 16 level gray scale can be displayed. For example, in order to display level 6 of the gray scale in a certain pixel, the second subfield 2T and the third subfield 4T have to be addressed, and in order to display level 15 of the gray scale, all of the first, second, third and fourth subfields have to be addressed.
FIG. 4 shows a diagram of an electrode connection scheme of an AC type 3 electrode surface discharge plasma display panel to realize the gray scale exhibition method as described above. As shown in FIG. 4, X electrodes 12a of scan electrodes 12 are connected to a common line, and accordingly a voltage signal of the same waveform including a sustaining discharge pulse is impressed to all the X electrodes 12a. Therefore, as a scan signal of the scan electrodes 12 is impressed to an Y electrode, an address discharge occurs between the Y electrode 12b and an address electrode 6, and then as a sustaining discharge pulse is impressed across the Y electrode 12b and the X electrodes, the display discharge is sustained. The waveforms of driving signals respectively impressed to the electrodes connected as described above are shown in FIG. 5.
In FIG. 5, A represents a driving signal to be impressed to each address electrode, X represents a driving signal to be impressed to each common electrode, i.e., X electrode 12a, and Y1 to Y480 represent driving signals respectively to be impressed to Y electrodes 12b. During a total erase period A11, in order to display an exact level of the gray scale, a total erase pulse 22a is impressed to the X electrode 12a to establish a strong discharge, and consequently a wall charge created by the previous discharge is erased, as shown in FIG. 6a, to make the following operation of subfields properly be carried out (the first step). During a total write period A12 and a total erase period A13, in order to lower an address pulse voltage, a total write pulse 23 is impressed to the Y electrode 12b and a total erase pulse 22b is impressed to the X electrode 12a to respectively establish a total write discharge and a total erase discharge, as shown in FIG. 6b and 6c, to control the amount of the wall charge within a charge space 15 (the second and third steps). During an address period A14, a selective 30 charge by an address pulse (a data pulse) 21 across an address electrode 16 and the scan electrode 12b which are orthogonal with respect to each other effects an operation to write, as shown in FIG. 6d, electrically coded information at a selected position of the plasma display panel (the fourth step). During sustaining discharge period S1, a sustaining discharge by a continuous sustaining discharge pulse 25 sustains a display discharge for a given period to display image information on an actual panel.
As described above, in the driving method of the AC type plasma display panel the electrodes of which are connected as shown in FIG. 4, since independent signals are inputted respectively to the Y electrodes 12b and the address electrodes 16 for address discharges as described above and display discharges to display image signals, each electrode requires a separate driving circuit. For example, a plasma display panel having 640xc3x97480 pixels requires one X electrode driving circuit and 480 Y electrode driving circuits, a total of 481 driving circuits for the scan electrodes. Usually, the driving circuit consists of an integrated circuit device incorporated with electronic circuit devices having at least one switch, and the integrated circuit device is referred to as a driver IC. The driver IC requires a high voltage due to the discharge characteristics, and especially since driver ICs used in the X and Y electrodes for display discharges requires a high voltage of about 200 V, it is required to use driver lCs of a very high price. Currently, since the price of the driving circuit portion forms a great part of the total cost of a plasma display panel, it is a decisive obstacles in the commercial success of the plasma display panel. To enhance the marketability of the plasma display panel, it is most important that the number of the driving circuit devices is reduced to lower the cost and the power consumption of the plasma display panel.
To solve the above problem, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a plasma display device having a reduced number of driving circuits for electrodes and a driving method thereof.
Accordingly, to achieve the above objective, there is provided an mxc3x97n matrix plasma display panel having m pairs of scan electrodes having m sustaining electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Ym and m common electrodes X1, X2, . . . , Xm which are arranged alternately and in parallel, and n data electrodes arranged to be orthogonal with respect to the m pairs of scan electrodes, wherein while the sustaining electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Ym are divided into i groups of electrodes and electrodes in each group are connected to a common line to form i groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1, YY2, . . . , YYi, and the common electrodes X1, X2, . . . , Xm are divided into j groups of electrodes and electrodes in each group are connected to a common line to form j groups of commonly connected X electrodes, XX1, XX2, . . . , XXj, the scan electrodes are connected so that only one pair of an X electrode and an Y electrode among the i group of commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1, YY2, . . . , YYi and the j groups of commonly connected X electrodes, XX1, XX2, . . . , XXj may be arranged to neighbor with each other.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the number of scan electrodes, m, the number of groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, i, and the number of groups of commonly connected X electrodes, j, are in the relation of m=ixc3x97j, and when the number of the sustaining electrodes respectively connected to the groups of the commonly connected Y electrodes YY1, YY2, . . . , YYi is p and the number of the common electrodes respectively connected to the groups of the commonly connected X electrodes XX1, XX2, . . . , XXj is q, the scan electrodes are connected so that p, q, the number of groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, i, and the number of groups of commonly connected X electrodes, j are in the relation of i=q and j=p,) and the first group of the commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1 consists of electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Yp commonly connected thereto, the second group of the commonly connected Y electrodes, YY2 consists of electrodes Yp+1, Yp+2, . . . , Y2p commonly connected thereto, the third group of the commonly connected Y electrodes, YY3 consists of electrodes Y2p+1, Y2p+2, . . . , Y3p commonly connected thereto, and similarly, the ith group of the commonly connected Y electrodes YYi consists of electrodes Y(ixe2x88x921)p+1, Y(ixe2x88x921)p+2, . . . , Yip commonly connected thereto, and the first group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX1 consists of electrodes X1, X1+j, X1+2j, . . . , X1+(qxe2x88x921)j commonly connected thereto, the second group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX2 consists of electrodes X2, X2+j, X2+2j, . . . , X2+(qxe2x88x921)j commonly connected thereto, the third group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX3 consists of electrodes X3, X3+j, X3+2j, . . . , X3+(qxe2x88x921)j commonly connected thereto, and similarly, jth group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XXj consists of electrodes Xj, X2j, X3j, . . . , Xqj commonly connected thereto.
Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that when k is an integer, the mxc3x97n matrix plasma display panel consists of kmxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix having k display units of mxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix arranged; each of the k display units having the same electrode connection schemes has ixe2x80x2 sustaining electrode groups in each group of which one or pxe2x80x2 neighboring sustaining electrodes are connected to each other; and when, in the k display units, a first display unit is expressed by subgroups of commonly connected Yxe2x80x2(1) electrodes, YYxe2x80x21(1), YYxe2x80x22(1), . . . , YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(1), a second display unit is expressed by subgroups of commonly connected Yxe2x80x2(1) electrodes, YYxe2x80x21(2), YYxe2x80x22(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(1), and similarly, a kth display unit is expressed by subgroups of commonly connected Yxe2x80x2(k) electrodes, YYxe2x80x21(2), YYxe2x80x22(2), . . . , Yxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(k), while the groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1, YY2, . . . , YYi of the mxc3x97n matrix, each are expressed by respective subgroups, among the subgroups of the k display unit, a first group YY1 consists of subgroups YYxe2x80x21(1), YYxe2x80x21(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x21(k) commonly connected thereto, among the subgroups of the k display unit, a second group YY2 consists of subgroups Yxe2x80x22(1), Yxe2x80x22(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x22(k) commonly connected thereto, and similarly, among the subgroups of the k display unit, a ith group YYi consists of subgroups Yxe2x80x2i(1), YYxe2x80x2i(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x2i(k) commonly connected thereto.
Furthermore, in the present invention, it is preferable that in the k display units of mxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix, the subgroups YYxe2x80x21(1), YYxe2x80x21(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x21(k) each consists of Y1, Y2, . . . , Ypxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the subgroups YYxe2x80x22(1), YYxe2x80x22(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x22(k) each consists of Ypxe2x80x2+1, Ypxe2x80x2+2, Ypxe2x80x2+3, . . . , Y2pxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the subgroups YYxe2x80x23(1), YYxe2x80x23(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x23(k) each consists of Y2pxe2x80x2+1, Y2pxe2x80x2+2, Y2pxe2x80x2+3, . . . , Y3pxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, and similarly, the subgroups Yxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(1), YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(k) each consists of Y(ixe2x80x2xe2x88x921)pxe2x80x2+1, Y(ixe2x80x2xe2x88x921)pxe2x80x2+2, Y(ixe2x80x2)pxe2x80x2+3, . . . , Yixe2x80x2pxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto; and when the number of common electrodes respectively connected to the groups of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x21, XXxe2x80x22, . . . , XXxe2x80x2jxe2x80x2 of the k display units of mxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix is qxe2x80x2, the first group of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x21 consists of electrodes X1, X1+jxe2x80x2, X1+2jxe2x80x2, . . . , X1+(qxe2x80x2xe2x88x921)jxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the second group of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x22 consists of electrodes X2, X2+jxe2x80x2, X2+2jxe2x80x2, . . . , X2+(qxe2x80x2xe2x88x921)jxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the third group of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x23 consists of electrodes X3, X3+jxe2x80x2, X3+2jxe2x80x2, . . . , X3+(qxe2x80x2xe2x88x921)jxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, and similarly, jth group of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x2jxe2x80x2 consists of electrodes Xjxe2x80x2, X2jxe2x80x2, X3j , . . . , Xqxe2x80x2jxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, and thus the common electrodes are grouped so that the groups of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes in same order of each display unit may be sequentially or alternately driven.
In addition, to achieve the above objective, there is provided an mxc3x97n matrix plasma display panel having mxe2x80x3+2 scan electrodes and n data electrodes, wherein the 2 outmost electrodes at the one side among themxe2x80x3+2 scan electrodes are provided as preliminary discharge electrodes; while the mxe2x80x3 scan electrodes consist of pairs of mxe2x80x3 sustaining electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Ymxe2x80x3 and mxe2x80x3 common electrodes X1, X2, . . . , Xmxe2x80x3, the sustaining electrodes are divided into i groups of commonly connected Y electrodes (Y1, Y2, . . . , Yp), (Yp+1, Yp+2, . . . , Y2p), . . . , (Ymxe2x80x3xe2x88x92p+1, Ymxe2x80x3xe2x88x92p+2, . . . , Ymxe2x80x3), each group consisting of p neighboring electrodes commonly connected thereto, and the common electrodes are divided into j groups of commonly connected X electrodes, (X1, X1+j, X1+2j, . . . , Xmxe2x80x3xe2x88x92j+1), (X2, X2+j, X2+2j, . . . , Xmxe2x80x3xe2x88x92j+2), . . . , (Xj, X2j, X3j, . . . , Xmxe2x80x3), each group consisting of q electrodes commonly connected thereto which each are at (j+1)th position from j common electrodes at one side.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the number of scan electrodes, mxe2x80x3, the number of groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, i, and the number of groups of commonly connected X electrodes, j, are in the relation of mxe2x80x3=ixc3x97j and when the number of the sustaining electrodes respectively connected to the groups of the commonly connected Y electrodes YY1, YY2, . . . , YYi is p and the number of the common electrodes respectively connected to the groups of the commonly connected X electrodes XX1, XX2, . . . , XXj is q, the scan electrodes are connected so that p, q, the number of groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, i, and the number of groups of commonly connected X electrodes, j are in the relation of i=q and j=p. Alternatively, it is preferable that the number of scan electrodes, mxe2x80x3, the number of groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, i, and the number of groups of commonly connected X electrodes, j, are in the relation of mxe2x80x3=ixc3x97j, when k is an integer, a mxe2x80x3xc3x97n plasma display portion of the (mxe2x80x3+2)xc3x97n matrix plasma display panel consists of kmxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix having k display units of mxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix arranged; each of the k display units having the same electrode connection schemes has ixe2x80x2 sustaining electrode groups in each group of which one or pxe2x80x2 neighboring sustaining electrodes are connected to each other; and when, in the k display units, a first display unit is expressed by subgroups of commonly connected Yxe2x80x2(1) electrodes, YYxe2x80x21(1), YYxe2x80x22(1), . . . , YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(1), a second display unit is expressed by subgroups of commonly connected Yxe2x80x2(1) electrodes, YYxe2x80x21(2), YYxe2x80x22(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(2), and similarly, a kth display unit is expressed by subgroups of commonly connected Yxe2x80x2(k) electrodes, YYxe2x80x21(k), YYxe2x80x22(k), . . . , YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(k), while the groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1, YY2, . . . , YYi of the mxc3x97n matrix, each are expressed by respective subgroups, among the subgroups of the k display unit, a first group YY1 consists of subgroups YYxe2x80x21(1), YYxe2x80x21(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x21(k) commonly connected thereto, among the subgroups of the k display unit, a second group YY2 consists of subgroups YYxe2x80x22(1), YYxe2x80x22(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x22(k) commonly connected thereto, and similarly, among the subgroups of the k display unit, a ith group YYi consists of subgroups YYxe2x80x2k(1), YYxe2x80x2k(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x2k(k) commonly connected thereto. Also, in the k display units of mxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix, the subgroups YYxe2x80x21(1), YYxe2x80x21(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x21(k) each consists of Y1, Y2, . . . , Ypxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the subgroups YYxe2x80x22(1), YYxe2x80x22(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x22(k) each consists of Ypxe2x80x2+1, Ypxe2x80x2+2, Ypxe2x80x2+3, . . . , Y2pxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the subgroups YY3xe2x80x2(1), YY3xe2x80x2(2), . . . , YY3xe2x80x2(k) each consists of Y2pxe2x80x2+1, Y2pxe2x80x2+2, Y2pxe2x80x2+3, . . . , Y3pxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, and similarly, the subgroups YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(1), YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(2), . . . , YYxe2x80x2ixe2x80x2(k) each consists of Y(ixe2x80x2xe2x88x921)pxe2x80x2+1, Y(ixe2x80x2xe2x88x921)pxe2x80x2+2, Y(ixe2x80x2xe2x88x921)pxe2x80x2+3, . . . , Yixe2x80x2pxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto; and when the number of common electrodes respectively connected to the groups of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x21, XXxe2x80x22, . . . , XXxe2x80x2j of the k display units of mxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix is qxe2x80x2, the first group of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x21 consists of electrodes X1, X1+jxe2x80x2, X1+2j, . . . , X1+(qxe2x80x2xe2x88x921)jxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the second group of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x22 consists of electrodes X2, X2+jxe2x80x2, X2+2jxe2x80x2, . . . , X2+(qxe2x80x2xe2x88x921)jxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the third group of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x23 consists of electrodes X3, X3+jxe2x80x2, X3+2jxe2x80x2, . . . , X3+(qxe2x80x2xe2x88x921)jxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, and similarly, ith group of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes, XXxe2x80x2jxe2x80x2 consists of electrodes Xjxe2x80x2, X2jxe2x80x2, X3jxe2x80x2, . . . , Xqxe2x80x2jxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, and thus the common electrodes are grouped so that the groups of the commonly connected Xxe2x80x2 electrodes in same order of each display unit may be simultaneously driven by the same driving signal.
Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that when p=k=2, and the sustaining electrodes of the first display unit and the sustaining electrodes of the second display unit are respectively identified and represented by Y1, Y2, Y3, . . . , Yixe2x80x2 and Yixe2x80x2+1, Yixe2x80x2+2, Yixe2x80x2+3, . . . , Y2ixe2x80x2, the first group of the commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1 consists of electrodes Y1 and Yixe2x80x2+1 commonly connected thereto, the second group of the commonly connected Y electrodes, YY2 consists of electrodes Y2 and Yixe2x80x2+2 commonly connected thereto, the third group of the commonly connected Y electrodes, YY3 consists of electrodes Y3 and Yixe2x80x2+3 commonly connected thereto, and similarly, the ith group of the commonly connected Y electrodes YYi consists of electrodes Yixe2x80x2 and Y2ixe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto; and while the number of groups of commonly connected X electrodes, j must be an even number, the first group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX1 consists of electrodes X1, X5, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x924, and X2mxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, the second group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX2 consists of electrodes X2, X6, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x925, and X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x921 commonly connected thereto, the third group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX3 consists of electrodes X3, X7, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x926, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x922 commonly connected thereto, and similarly, jth group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XXj consists of electrodes Xj, Xj+4r, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x92j+1xe2x88x924r, X2mxe2x80x2j+1 commonly connected thereto where r is a quotient obtained by dividing j by 4.
In addition, to achieve the above objective, there is provided a driving method of an mxc3x97n plasma display panel having m pairs of scan electrodes having m sustaining electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Ym and m common electrodes X1, X2, . . . , Xm which are arranged alternately and in parallel, and n data electrodes arranged to be orthogonal with respect to the m pairs of scan electrodes, where while the sustaining electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Ym are divided into i groups of electrodes and electrodes in each group are connected to a common line to form i groups of commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1, YY2, . . . , YYi, and the common electrodes X1, X2, . . . , Xm are divided into j groups of electrodes and electrodes in each group are connected to a common line to form j groups of commonly connected X electrodes, XX1, XX2, . . . , XXj, the scan electrodes are connected so that only one pair of an X electrode and an Y electrode among the i group of commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1, YY2, . . . , YYi and the j groups of commonly connected X electrodes, XX1, XX2, . . . , XXj may be arranged to neighbor with each other, wherein the driving method includes: an initialization step of completely erasing a wall charge created at subfield during a previous step; and an address discharge step of selecting and priming a pixel corresponding to image information, wherein the address discharge step includes the steps of: impressing sequentially to the groups of commonly connected X electrodes first pulses having an amplitude of a second voltage with reference to a first voltage of a reference voltage impressed to the scan electrodes, and a width smaller than that of the driving signal pulse of the data electrodes; and impressing sequentially to the groups of commonly connected Y electrodes second pulses having an amplitude of a third voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the second voltage with reference to a first voltage and a width of the period for which the first pulses are impressed once respectively to all the groups of commonly connected X electrodes.
In the present invention, it is preferable that while each pulse of the driving signal of the data electrodes is impressed later, with delay of a predetermined time, than each first pulse, the pulse of the driving signal of the data electrodes is impressed within at least 10 xcexc sec after the second pulses is divided by the same width of the first pulses and is impressed to the groups of commonly connected Y electrodes during the same period to correspond to each of the first pulses.
Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that in the address discharge step, a barrier voltage which has the same polarity of the first pulses and is lower than the second voltage is impressed between the first pulses impressed sequentially to each of the groups of commonly connected X electrodes, and it is also preferable that a sustaining discharge stabilizing pulse of a fourth voltage having a width narrower than that of sustaining discharge pulse is periodically impressed to the data electrodes during the sustaining discharge period.
In addition, to achieve the above objective, there is provided another driving method of an mxc3x97n matrix plasma display panel where an mxc3x97n matrix plasma display panel having m pairs of scan electrodes having m sustaining electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Ym and m common electrodes X1, X2, . . . , Xm arranged alternately and in parallel, and n data electrodes arranged to be orthogonal with respect to the m pairs of scan electrodes, is an 2mxe2x80x2xc3x97n matrix plasma display panel having 2 display units arranged each consist of mxe2x80x2 pairs of scan electrodes having mxe2x80x2 sustaining electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Ymxe2x80x2 and mxe2x80x2 common electrodes X1, X2, . . . , Xmxe2x80x2 arranged alternately and in parallel; when sustaining electrodes and common electrodes of a first display unit of the 2 display units are expressed by Y1, Y2, . . . , Ymxe2x80x2, and X1, X2, . . . , Xmxe2x80x2, respectively and sustaining electrodes and common electrodes of a second display unit are expressed by Ymxe2x80x2+1, Ymxe2x80x2+2, . . . , Y2mxe2x80x2, and Xmxe2x80x2+1, Xmxe2x80x2+2, . . . , X2mxe2x80x2, while the sustaining electrodes of the 2 display unit are connected to each other to form groups of commonly connected Y electrodes YY1, YY2, YY3, . . . , YYi, respectively, a first group of commonly connected Y electrodes, YY1 consists of Y1 and Ymxe2x80x2+1 commonly connected thereto, a second group of the commonly connected Y electrodes, YY2 consists of electrodes Y2 and Ymxe2x80x2+2 commonly connected thereto, a third group of the commonly connected Y electrodes, YY3 consists of electrodes Y3 and Ymxe2x80x2+3 commonly connected thereto, and similarly, the ith group of the commonly connected Y electrodes YYi consists of electrodes Ymxe2x80x2 and Y2mxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, and while the common electrodes of the 2 display unit are connected to each other to form groups of commonly connected X electrodes XX1, XX2, XX3, . . . , XXi, respectively, the number of the groups of commonly connected X electrodes, j, must an even number, a first group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX1 consists of electrodes X1, X5, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x924, and X2mxe2x80x2 commonly connected thereto, a second group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX2 consists of electrodes X2, X6, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x925, and X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x921 commonly connected thereto, a third group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XX3 consists of electrodes X3, X7, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x926, X2mxe2x80x2xe2x88x922 commonly connected thereto, and similarly, jth group of the commonly connected X electrodes, XXj consists of electrodes Xj, Xj+4r, X2mxe2x80x2j+1xe2x88x924r, X2mxe2x80x2j+1 commonly connected thereto where r is a quotient obtained by dividing j by 4, wherein the driving method includes: an initialization step of completely erasing a wall charge created at subfield during a previous step; and an address discharge step of selecting and priming a pixel corresponding to image information, wherein the address discharge step includes the steps of: impressing alternately in sequential order and in reverse order of XX1, XXj, XX2, XX(jxe2x88x921), XX3, XX(jxe2x88x922), . . . to the groups of commonly connected X electrodes first pulses having an amplitude of a second voltage with reference to a first voltage of a reference voltage impressed to the scan electrodes, and a width smaller than that of the driving signal pulses of the data electrodes; and impressing sequentially to the groups of commonly connected Y electrodes second pulses having an amplitude of a third voltage having an polarity opposite to that of the second voltage with reference to a first voltage and a width of the period for which the first pulses are impressed once respectively to the 2 groups of commonly connected X electrodes.
In the present invention, it is preferable that wherein a sustaining discharge stabilizing pulse of a fourth voltage having a width narrower than that of sustaining discharge pulse is periodically impressed to the data electrodes during the sustaining discharge period.
In addition, to achieve the above objective, there is provided still another driving method of a plasma display panel having mxe2x80x3+2 scan electrodes and n data electrodes, where while among an mxc3x97n matrix plasma display panel having mxe2x80x3 +2 scan electrodes and n data electrodes, the 2 outmost electrodes at the one side among the mxe2x80x3+2 scan electrodes are provided as preliminary discharge electrodes, and while the mxe2x80x3 scan electrodes consist of pairs of mxe2x80x3 sustaining electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Ymxe2x80x3 and mxe2x80x3 common electrodes X1, X2, . . . , Xmxe2x80x3, the sustaining electrodes are divided into i groups of commonly connected Y electrodes (Y1, Y2, . . . , Yp), (Yp+1, Yp+2, . . . , Y2p), . . . , (Ymxe2x80x3xe2x88x92p+1, Ymxe2x80x3xe2x88x92p+2, . . . , Ymxe2x80x3), each group consisting of p neighboring electrodes commonly connected thereto, and the common electrodes are divided into j groups of commonly connected X electrodes, (X1, X1+j, X1+2j, . . . , Xmxe2x80x3j+1), (X2, X2+j, X2+2j, . . . , Xmxe2x80x2j+2), . . . , (Xj, X2j, X3j, . . . , Xmxe2x80x3), each group consisting of q electrodes commonly connected thereto which each are at (j+1)th position from j common electrodes at one side, wherein the driving method includes: an initialization step of completely erasing a wall charge created at subfield during a previous step; a step of impressing to the 2 preliminary discharge electrodes preliminary discharge pulses having a amplitude and a width same as those of the voltage of the initialization step utilizing the scan electrodes and a polarity opposite to that of it; and an address discharge step of selecting and priming a pixel corresponding to image information, wherein the address discharge step includes steps of: impressing sequentially to the groups of commonly connected X electrodes first pulses having an amplitude of a second voltage with reference to a first voltage of a reference voltage impressed to the scan electrodes, and a width smaller than that of the driving signal pulses of the data electrodes; and impressing sequentially to the groups of commonly connected Y electrodes second pulses having an amplitude of a third voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the second voltage with reference to a first voltage and a width of the period for which the first pulses are impressed once respectively to all the groups of commonly connected X electrodes.
In the present invention, it is preferable that each pulse of the driving signal of the data electrodes is impressed later, with delay of a predetermined time, than each first pulse, it is preferable that the second pulse which is divided by the same width of the first pulses and is impressed to the groups of commonly connected Y electrodes during the same period to correspond to each of the first pulses, it is preferable that total erase pulses impressed respectively to the groups of commonly connected X electrodes in the initialization step are impressed to them to be overlapped in the width of the preliminary discharge pulse for a certain period, it is preferable that in the address discharge step, a barrier voltage which has the same polarity of the first pulses and is lower than the second voltage is impressed between the first pulses impressed sequentially to each of the groups of commonly connected X electrodes, and it is preferable that a sustaining discharge stabilizing pulse of a fourth voltage having a width narrower than that of sustaining discharge pulse is periodically impressed to the data electrodes during the sustaining discharge period.